Holy Mackerel...the Earth IS Round!

To all you potential flat-earthers out there, on July 1st, team S/V CV27 Qingdao crossed longitude 54° 58.283'W at a latitude of 42° 0.398'N in the North Atlantic...and we became circumnavigators! The earth is round after all! A proud moment during Leg 8 for myself and my fellow circumnavigators on Qingdao: Brendan, Greg, Gussie, Klas, Jo, Rob, Will, and Zack. I couldn't be prouder of this core group of outstanding sailors, leaders, and frankly 'humans', than I am right now. Led by our trusty skipper, Phil Quinn and first mate Henry Hallatt, we raced to a 6th place finish across the North Atlantic, finishing in Oban, Scotland on July 13th. But we still weren't home.

Our final race, number 14, took us from Oban, Scotland, down around Ireland to our home port of Portsmouth, England. On July 26th, we crossed our outbound wake from September 2023 at longitude 04° 57.728'W at a latitude of 49° 57.728'N...arriving back in Portsmouth on July 27th. After 10 months, 21 days, 10 hours and 18 minutes, we were home! We placed 6th overall after 14 races, with 5 podium finishes (3 firsts,1 second, and 1 third). Our perseverance and resilience paid off and it was great to be back on land after being gone 11 months.

On August 3rd, I returned to Chicago from the UK, with my family, Jean and Katie. It has been a great homecoming that has been a whirlwind of activity: beautiful welcome home party with neighbors, close friends and family, reconnecting with people, doctors appointments, and the myriad of 'life details' that get left behind like license renewals, and staying up-to-date with current events.

It has been a wonderful and amazing year, stretching myself physically, mentally, and being part of the team driving our wonderful ocean racing yacht, CV27 Qingdao forward. I couldn't have asked for a better, more complete experience. And I thank all of you, Qingdao's amazing supporters: friends, family, co-workers...your love and support have been truly amazing! Thank you!

To round out this final (?) blog post (and I do apologize for not being the best blogger...it is harder than I thought, and doesn't come naturally to me...my days as an influencer, at least on social media are limited!), let me share some 'by the numbers' with you...it will hopefully bring some color to this race in a different way...here we go (and in no particular order!):

443,036		I'd be remiss to not discuss Clipper's philanthropic focus: UNICEF. Across the fleet we raised over 440,000 GBPs, and Qingdao exceeded our goal, by raising 30,737 GBPs! Thank you! If you would still like to contribute go here.
13,945		Again, a deep, heartfelt thanks to all those who donated to my personal race philanthropy, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research...we've raise almost $14,000 in honor of my brother, Dr. Jay Faris who has early onset Parkinson's. If you would still like to contribute to eradicating this disease, I'll keep this fund raiser going through the end of 2024...go here.
45,093		Over 45,000 nautical miles! Our total distance sailed...an amazing number! The earth is large, beautiful and our seas powerful and limitless. For me, a dream of a lifetime to sail them, and a master class in ocean racing/sailing.
4 / 2		S/V Qingdao had 4 skippers and 2 first mates over the course of our race...a most unusual situation, but frankly one that worked out amazingly well for us. Greg Hunt and Steve Westwood, our first skip and mate, ultimately had to transition out due to health and new Clipper responsibilities. Phil and Henry, shown here, were with us the longest, Legs 5 through 8, from Australia back to Portsmouth. Under their leadership we took the podium 5 times! From all our skips and mates we learned a tremendous amount, and ultimately, different from other boats, effectively ran our own program with Phil and Henry providing strategy and guidance...wonderful leaders and I'll be forever grateful for their skill, guidandance, leadership and mentorship...I intend to pay it forward in my sailing community.
5		Over the course of eight legs and 14 races, we podiumed 5 times, all under the leadership of skipper Phil and first mate Henry...we were super pleased to "fly the 'W'" for our first win sailing from Airlie Beach, Australia to Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam. Beating our competitor into Ha Long Bay into their home port was extra special for us. The race was incredibly close with less than 1.5 miles separating us from Team Zhuhai, after racing over 4.5K nautical miles made this win particularly rewarding.
102 / 6		With 102 total points, Team Qingdao finished the Clipper 2023-204 race in 6th place. We knew early on that a podium place was probably out of reach (8 penalty points in the early legs were too much to overcome), but we relished being spoilers and disrupters!
3		During Leg 1, from Puerto Sherry to Punte del Este, Qingdao, during very high winds at night we had a serious broach, resulting in the "spinnaker wrap from hell"...it took us 3 days to clear this, sending multiple crew up the mast. All the while we were able to maintain good speeds and even rendezvoused with S/V UNICEF mid-ocean to transfer anti-biotics needed by one of their crew.
2		OK, a little weird to put this on my blog, but on every tour of S/V Qingdao, the heads (aka toilets) seemed to attract the most raised eyebrows AND attention...but lets admit, with 2 heads for 20+ crew, little privacy (only a soft screen for a door, the boat while industrial, is also a bit rustic. No shower, no creature comforts, we all rapidly adjusted to "if it hasn't passed through your body, it doesn't go in the toilet" mantra...you fill in the blanks! At the end of the day, you quickly get over it, and 'yes', the creature comforts of shoreside are most welcomed!
14,700+		14,000 meals! Across over 245 days at sea, with an average crew size of 20, we cooked 14K meals to get us around the world! But they didn't all look like this...this is our special Christmas dinner. Our meals were much simpler, heavy on vegetarian, and we baked all our bread.
1		SANTA 'KLAS' LIVES! Far off in the southern ocean, our good friend, Klas Abrahamsson, made a magical appearance at Christmas with gifts from Secret Santas for everyone. The one time we were thankful for a wind hole, the calm seas on Christmas Day made for a beautiful time of fellowship and good meals. There is only 1 Santa Klas in the world, and he found us!
09-03-2023 07-27-2024		Nearly 11 months of racing, across the Atlantic (3 times), Southern Ocean, Western, Northern, and Eastern Pacific oceans, and 16 ports of call, S/V Qingdao set out on September 2023, finishing our race on July 27th, 2024. Before each race, we held a complete crew briefing to discuss our strategy, anticipated routing, likely weather conditions and specific roles and responsibilities.
4		To compete in the Clipper Race, every crew member must complete 4 weeks of intensive on the water sailing and survival training...it is hard to get into a life raft in a warm pool...even harder in a raging sea. The training was excellent.
65+		65+ knots of wind in the Southern Ocean...an area of extreme wind, waves (8+ meters) were experienced, and challenged us. Heading north after hitting our lowest latitude of just under S46 degrees, we welcomed the warmer weather and calmer seas.
29		29 KNOTS! Brendan (our resident speed demon and fellow round the worlder ) achieved our fastest boat speed of the race, albeit briefly, in the North Pacific. I think we broached right after and took the kite down! LOL! Our typical speeds under kite were in the range of 12-15 knots, but when we had high winds and good surf conditions we could achieve some amazing and exhilarating speeds. My fastest speed was just shy of 23 knots in the Southern Ocean...fast! Note: 29kts = ~33mph!
2		King Neptune's faithful assistants made two appearances on S/V Qingdao as we crossed the equator, first on Leg 1, Race 2 in the Atlantic, and second on Leg 5, race 7, in the western Pacific. Lowly Pollywogs were transformed into able Shellbacks after pledging their allegiance to Neptune and enduring fermenting left overs and other offal left in the lazarette to ripen.
1 / 60		Celebrating 1 birthday, my 60th lap around the sun...in Punte del Este (Leg 1, race 2). Wearing the mandatory and infamous "penis" hat (yeah, I know, right!), birthday celebrations on board were a welcomed event, with birthday cake creations from whatever was found on board. Man's creativity knows no bounds!
8		During Leg 4, race 4, team Qingdao, along with teams UNICEF, PSP Logistics, and Washington, DC deployed "drifter" buoys provided by Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) who gave pre-determined longitudes for the buoys to be activated. This built on a similar project from the previous race edition, with the aim to provide further widespread data analysis of the ocean, as Clipper Race routing goes through less travelled waters and beyond traditional shipping routes. Eight drifter buoys were provided Four were deployed on Race 5 in the Indian Ocean between Fremantle and Newcastle. And a further four were dropped in the Pacific Ocean between Airlie Beach and Ha Long Bay on Race 7 from teams Our Isles and Oceans, Perseverance, Zhuhai and Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam.
30		30 days without a shower, and Down there Wipes (Rosewater scent, no less...Thanks Mary Markarian!) and Dude Wipes are a godsend. With no shower and limited fresh water, creative hygiene was the order of the day for longer, hot stretches of the race. Baby powder and merino underwear are miracle products! That first shower on shore...GLORIOUS!
100's		The memories are too numerous to count...but to reflect: the 100's of memories of fellowship, the landfalls/stopover ports, the shear power of the ocean and the glories of night sailing are priceless. If I come away with nothing from this adventure, it is the world is amazing, big, and beautiful. But more importantly, the people that I shared this with are more amazing and beautiful.
2 ∞		And finally, much thanks and love to my 2 biggest supporters, my wife Jean and daughter Katie. Thank you for all your support as I realized my dream! To everyone who has gone along with me on this journey, your dreams can be infinite...take the time to pursue them with energy and passion.

Well, I think that should just about wrap this adventure up...again, "thank you" for coming along on this journey with me. I hope I've been able to provide you with some insights and color into racing around the world. I'm now back in Chicago, sitting at my kitchen table, thinking about "what's next?" For the near term, I'll be around Chicago, reaching out, taking care of life. We'll connect soon.

Fair winds...and fast, safe sailing!

Chris